stepping down off the 17"pb throne - what do I do??

[kwajo.com]

here's the deal, right now i've got a rev.A 1GHz 17" powerbook and I love it, but i'm suffling computers in my family and i'm giving my machine to my father and getting a new one. the timing is great with the recent release of the pwerbook revisions, but I cannot decide which one i'd like. I live 9 months with the 17" and it was fantastic, but at times i wished I could just toss it in a bag and go, so I've been drawn to the 12" or 15".
looking at recent benchmarks, like http://www.barefeats.com/pb11.html the 1.5 isn't much faster than the 1.33 so i was thinking, okay maybe i'll be okay with the 12" but I already have a firewire 800 external drive and would prefer the Radeon card, given that my past 2 macs had nVidia chips and i was left unimpressed. also, anyone moved down from 17" to 12" and been absolutely fed up with the small screen size?
the only other issue is that I have recently gotten very involved in FCP projects and am sure I would appreciate a G5, but they are so overdue for an update that I am sure a week after I buy they would up the specs and I'd feel bad. so would it be better for my conscious to buy the powerbook, or should i go G5 and just be happy that it is roughly 4 times faster at rendering than my current machine...

let me know some thoughts, or possible configs of these etc. i'm not looking top of the line, but somewhere near the middle of the road setup for balance of speed and price. oh and i think no matter what i do i should follow the standard advice of avoiding rumor sites for a while after purchase - i recommend this to everyone

thanks in advance!

 

[Squareball]

My 2 cents here.

If you are 90%+ of the time using your computer at home (well, not mobile I should say) then getting a G5 (when the new ones come out) is probably best. You'll get MUCH better performance out of it and it will last you quite a while.

However, if you do a lot of mobile work then obviously go with the powerbook. Here is thing about the small display. Get the 12" or 15" but hook it up to an external monitor and have it span not mirror. This way you'll have 12"/15" AND a large 17" display (or whatever size you have). Once you go dual monitors it's hard to go back and it seems like a perfect solution if you go mobile often. A 12" screen is actually not bad. My ibook is 12" and I run off to an external monitor and have it span and it works great. When I go mobile (very little at the moment) the 12" screen doesn't feel too small at all. It runs 1024x768 and looks nice and sharp.

Oh and I hope your father realises how great of a son he has! I wish some one would give me a 17" powerbook

 

[kwajo.com]

lol yeah he should appreciate it.

the thing is I do spend a lot of my time computing at home, but I'm in a field wher eI never know when I might be moving, so I like the fact that it isn't a big operation to go and relocate a desktop (and the G5 is a massive tower ).

other than that the G5 is in theory the better option, but I need to buy now and it bothers me taht they might be updated in a couple months (or less). the last 2 macs i bought were within a month-moth and a half of updates, and it's hard to deal with sometimes; and the powerbooks i wouldn't have that problem

 

[Squareball]

True. Well in that case I would say a 15" powerbook and a regular old 17" or 21" CRT (or cinema display if you wanna shell out some bucks for better quality) is a great solution. Exspecially if you are getting more into video editing and such. I can't tell you how great it is to have a dual monitor setup when working with graphics, sound or video apps. I don't care how big your main display is, there is always "not enough room", and dual display solves that problem well. Another plus is that you can keep your e-mail open on one display (the laptop display as I do) and do your regular work stuff like excel or just surfing the web on the other.

 

[Bhennies]

lol yeah he should appreciate it.

the thing is I do spend a lot of my time computing at home, but I'm in a field wher eI never know when I might be moving, so I like the fact that it isn't a big operation to go and relocate a desktop (and the G5 is a massive tower ).

other than that the G5 is in theory the better option, but I need to buy now and it bothers me taht they might be updated in a couple months (or less). the last 2 macs i bought were within a month-moth and a half of updates, and it's hard to deal with sometimes; and the powerbooks i wouldn't have that problem

If you are a serious user, you need both. That's what I'm coming to realize. You can write them off as a business expense. personally, I am thinking about buying the 12" or 15" powerbook, and then getting a g5 setup this fall.

 

[kwajo.com]

If you are a serious user, you need both. That's what I'm coming to realize. You can write them off as a business expense. personally, I am thinking about buying the 12" or 15" powerbook, and then getting a g5 setup this fall.

i'm starting to realize that, but my $$ is low

although i might be able to get my hands on a friend's clamsheel ibook for free maybe that might help...

 

[baby duck monge]

if you decide to go for the laptop, but don't want to risk any disappointment with the video card, go for the 15" and get the BTO 128mb video card for $50.

 

[kwajo.com]

if you decide to go for the laptop, but don't want to risk any disappointment with the video card, go for the 15" and get the BTO 128mb video card for $50.

oh yes, i agree, if i can pull out the money for a 1.5. I wish apple hadn't taken the option of adding the backlit keyboard away from the lowend 15". boooourns

 

[baby duck monge]

oh yes, i agree, if i can pull out the money for a 1.5. I wish apple hadn't taken the option of adding the backlit keyboard away from the lowend 15". boooourns

the backlit keyboard is quite wonderful, isn't it? at least this way you would have that money to spend on other upgrades. always gotta look at the bright side of things (even if it means a dark keyboard).

 

[Grokgod]

I want to be able to add the 128 vram to the 1.33 ALubook with a superdrive! Thats the HOT ticket right there!

I say get the 1.33, then get the new powermac rev b.

You save money on the Powerbook and have money left over to add to the Powermac and then you have the best of both worlds.

You can wait a bit with the working on thePB then get the PM.

I am getting a new PB and an Cinema Display, then the new Powermacs.

ANyone think that 128 vram will help with dual displays alot?

That would be the deciding reason to choose tween the two powerbooks.

 

[Steven1621]

while the PBs are fast, there aren't nearly what a G5 is. if you need power, go with the G5, and pick up a used PB later on or something...